Hate that for anyone.

General question....would a nickel plated pellet be able to scratch a damascus bore? This is a very early Baker A grade with 4 kroil barrels. I shot some RST low pressure loads they made for me special a couple of years ago for pigeons out of this gun last year, (the last time I shot it)....not going to shoot the gun till gone over, but wondering?

DUH!!! Cannot believe that I didn't try and ring the barrels first thing.....like bells! both tubes sounding identical, and that is on a gun with a forearm lug repair! I brought the barrels with me to the office today, and after ringing them, took a dental scaler and was able to scrape whatever this is, (definitely metallic) off of the surface of the tube....SO I got my cordless drill, a rod and jag, a frontier pad and some ballistol, (everyone has those in his or her office right) and went to work. The crack is gone!!!! AMAZING!! I still cannot believe that the bore snake, and it was a fresh one, with an aggressive brass brush on it, did not phase this thing!

SO my most sincere and humble apologies my sensationalism!!! But, I am so happy this gun was not ruined, it is an early gun ser. # 2254.

Thanks for all of the input, especially those that doubted a scratch!

Not having seen these barrels, I am only 98% sure this is not a crack. Pressures sufficient to cause a barrel crack would have ruptured before going down the entire bore, and cracks in damascus barrels do night form as you are describing.
There are many good NDT labs in most metropolitan areas, and can perform one of several exams which will be more conclusive than blind internet guesses.
Also, I would doubt a plated lead pellet would do this, by itself. If a pellet were to leave a trace down the bore, it would be so slight that any good bore scrubbing would remove it.

Glad to hear it!!! Any way to identify what the material was? Have had some awful leading streaks in vintage guns but none that looked like that

Awesome Mark. Glad there is significant hope and it did not turn out as bad as you first thought. Seeing something suspicious on an old gun barrel is like getting a fever and not feeling sick. First thing you do is go to Web MD and look up symptoms and everything starts with a fever. Start adding in a few more symptoms like a pimple at the base of your spine and next thing you know your certain you have a Bangladeshi epizootic hemorrhagic fever, and yours would be the second reported case ever if confirmed.

Best prescription as go ring those barrels like a cow bell and then go shoot that 16 gauge. Glad you didn't get blowed up.

Great news Mark.

I have a set of 12 ga. Damascus barrels with a 'line' going from the edge of the forcing cone right out through the muzzle. It isn't especially deep, maybe 2 - 3 thousandths but caused me some concern when I first noticed it. The comforting factor was that it is too wide for its entire length to be a crack. It is a deep scratch but it had to be something pretty hard on the side of a shot charge at one time before I owned the barrels. I shoot these barrels regularly these days.





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Never mind, but glad for the good news.
If the barrels have not been evaluated by a double gun specialist, maybe this was a hint to do so?
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/...41&#Post504941

I agree with Edgar. I can't see how a crack could possibly form across all the wraps of material of such different properties as in a damascus barrel. Just doesn't sound plausible. A scratch yes, but not a crack. You should do some research on the nature of the nickel plating used on shot. Some nickel plating contains silicon-carbide or sapphire, both of which would make it more than hard enough to scratch steel.

I still feel like “chicken little” for freaking out about the Baker, but it is one of my fav’s, of the maker representatve guns I own. Took it to a friends place in the Rio Grand Valley today, and proceeded to make a down payment on my next Parker by eating these guys up with the Baker shooting wobble trap “Miss and Outs”.....whooped a MX8, a Kolar, two 1100’s, a ”new” Fox, variuos other one or two rounders.....played five games of it, and only split one round (the last one) , with a ranch hand, shooting a “POS” J C Higgins pump!! Just goes to show you!!

Now, if can just stick a Nilgai Bull in the next two days, all will be right with the universe!!